“It was nice to meet you, Damian,”Lucien said as he released Audrey’s face.​ “Good to meet you, too.” Damian was clearly flustered.Audrey figured it was because of being uncomfortable with Lucien’s display of affection.​ “Let’s go, Audrey,” Lucien said to her. “You look too good and I’d like to keep you to myself tonight.”​ At that point, Audrey’s face went even redder. Blood pounded beneath her skin. How she wished this was how Lucien was all the time.He led her towards the door, dozens of pair of eyes watched them.​ “See you at the final!” Damian called right as they were exiting.Audrey looked back and waved at him. He seemed forlorn and upset, but Lucien pulled her away before she could dwell on it any longer.​ “He likes you,”Lucien said as they walked towards his car. Audrey didn’t answer.‘That’s not true.’ she thought.He only saw her as a friend.“Are you going to see him again?”She ignored that question as they got into the car.The atmosphere was charged with hostili

Audrey giggled as he kissed her hand. Steve rattled off instructions to his assistants and left to go oversee the men getting ready.Audrey stared at her reflection, and the moment sunk in. She was getting married. It was really happening. A girl’s wedding day was supposed to be one of the happiest in her life, but Audrey felt almost numb. Like she was detached from it somehow.​ The tornado of hairpins, brushes, nail polish and make up stopped. The assistants pulled away and Audrey caught sight of herself in the mirror. Dramatic lashes, yet simple makeup framed her eyes. A light dusting of blush highlighted her face. The look was finished with a bold red lip. Her hair was styled in coifed, soft waves with a deep side part. One side was tucked behind her ear with a crystal comb. It was modest, but she’d never seen herself look so beautiful.“Wow,” she whispered.​ “I know,” Steve gushed. “Just wait until you put on the dress. Come.”​ He led her into a dressing room, where Tracy was w

Lucien grabbed her hands to stop her. If she kept this up, he wouldn’t be able to stop.​ “You’re the one who didn’t want this. You said no sex. That was your decision, remember?” he said in one last attempt to get her to come to her senses and respect her wishes.​ “For the love of…” she released her hands from his grip and finished removing her dress.Lucien had expected there to be sexy white lingerie underneath. But there was nothing. She was completely bare to him. “If you don’t fucking take me right now, I will find another man to do it. Is that what you…”​ She cut her off by flipping them over so that he was above her. He kissed her as intensely as she had. Audrey’s hands wrestled with Lucien’s clothes. When she decided it was taking too long to undress him, she stopped the kiss and pushed him over. She straddled him and ripped his shirt off.​ “That was expensive,” he teased. He sat up and crushed Audrey to his now bare chest.​ “You’ll buy a new one.” Their kiss ramped up as

“No,” Audrey said to herself aloud. “Not this again.” Her mind flashed back to that night when all this began and she caught Josh with Megan. “I can’t go through this twice.” She marched out of the conference room and towards Lucien’s secretary. “Where is he?”​ “He’s… um… still in that meeting,” she answered, looking at everything but Audrey.​ Her heart sank realizing the kind of meeting he was in.​ “Do you want me to call him?”​ “No. Don’t even tell him I was here.” She ran out of the building, cake in tow. Why did he have to lie to her? She knew all along that this was a contract marriage. If Lucien wanted to see other women, she didn’t care. But why would he lie to her? Why would he be sweet to her over the phone, and then lie about being excited to see her?Audrey wanted to throw the cake in the street, but she refused to cause a scene. She wandered in the parking lot, not ready to go home yet, when she overheard what seemed to be a couple arguing,she paused.​ “Please, I made

“Lucien!”Mia threw her hands around his neck and sobbed. His hands hovered around her. Her hug shocked him. There was a time in his life that her touch was all he craved.Things were different now.​ “I need you to calm down,” he soothed. He attempted to move away from her, but she wouldn’t let go. “If you’re going to be like this, we can’t talk here. Let’s go for a walk. There is a small park behind the building. It’s private. We can talk there.”Mia nodded and allowed Lucien to escort her from the office. When they got outside, and away from the judgmental eyes of his office staff, he began to question her.​ “So, what happened?” He sat on a bench​ “Things have gotten so messed up between us.” Mia blubbered.​ “How did things get so bad? You’ve only been married a short time. Shouldn’t you be madly in love with each other especially since you…”‘Abandoned me for him’ Lucien finished internally. He couldn’t bring himself to speak those words out loud.​ “He cheated on me,” Mia cried